Conventional techniques for providing push-to-talk (PTT) and push-to-talk over cellular (POC) are known and provide great benefit for users to communicate with a group of other users to coordinate business and social activities. A PTT server manages the conversation to prevent users from talking over one another, which helps to provide a productive conversation since the users often cannot see one another and thus do not know when another user is about the speak. Normally the initiating caller is initially granted the right to speak to the group, which is called the “floor.” The speaker with the floor permits that person to speak through the user equipment (e.g. a wireless phone) and have all the other participants listen. If another user wants the floor in order to speak with the group, that user requests the floor and, once granted, can speak to the group.
FIG. 1 depicts a communications network 100 for users 110a-110d to communicate with one another over wireless communication infrastructure including POC servers 112a-112c and core network 120. FIG. 2 depicts a conventional POC server 112 including a POC application server 114 and media resource function controller and processor 116. Conventional techniques for managing the floor control are provided in the POC server 114. However, conventional techniques for managing the floor employ significant communications overhead to manage the push-to talk conversations. This is due at least in part to the incorporation of the floor control in the POC application server 114.
Consequently, there is need for an improved technique for providing push-to-talk communications, and particularly, push-to-talk over cellular that is more efficient than conventional techniques.